John Moores, Jr.

John Moores Jr., CBE, DL, (22 November 1928 – 22 May 2012) was the eldest son of businessman Sir John Moores CBE who founded the Littlewoods company. He became Executive Director and Deputy Chairman of the family firm in 1968. John Moores also served as 2nd Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University from 1994, after previously serving as the university's First Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Board of Governors from 1992.

Littlewoods

John Moores joined the firm in 1946. He became Chair of the Littlewoods Equal Opportunities strategy committee from the mid 60's until the mid-1990s after wanting to promote equal opportunities in the firm following his return from the United States after a 2-year academic stay. In 1968 he became the executive director and deputy chairman.

Later life

He resigned officially from Littlewoods in 1996 to spend time breeding Aberdeen-Angus Cattle at the farm in Formby, Merseyside he and his wife Jane began in 1964. He was a member of the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society, of which he later became president and in March 2012 was the first of its members to be awarded the society's Hugh Watson Lifetime Achievement Award.^[2]

He continued to promote equality in Liverpool just as he had done in the company. He chaired the Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services until 1986, help to establish the organisation 'Priority' which helps disadvantaged children, and established 'South Liverpool Personnel' which helps the city's black community to find jobs. For his charitable work in Merseyside, he was awarded a CBE in 1993, and made a Freeman of the City of Liverpool.

Liverpool John Moores University

As a supporter of education, John Moores remained in a long association with Liverpool John Moores University which took its name from his father. He remained a trustee, and served as Pro-Chancellor and Chair of the Board of Governors from 1992 until 1994, when he became the university's 2nd Chancellor until the end of his term in 1999. He was appointed Chancellor Emeritus of the university and was an honorary fellow.^[3]

Family and Education

John Moores was the eldest son of Sir John Moores, businessman and founder of the Littlewoods empire and Ruby Knowles. He had two sisters and one brother. His older sister Betty Suenson-Taylor, The Dowager Lady Grantchester, who married her husband Kenneth Bent Suenson-Taylor, 2nd Baron Grantchester, his younger brother Sir Peter Moores, CBE, DL and younger sister Janitha Moores. His wife was Jane Moores. He was educated at Eton College, Berkshire, where he excelled academically and in sports, and later spent 2 years at Syracuse University in New York at the beginning of the 1950s.

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